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Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia spathacea
Other Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Tillandsia spathacea

An Ecuadorian endemic Tillandsia of Andean montane forest, collected between about 2,200 and 3,000 m on both slopes of the Cordillera near Quito, from Nono and Pululahua on the west side to the Papallacta to Baeza road on the east. Published information on it is very thin. Grow it like a cool, humid montane epiphyte, not like a lowland air plant.

At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Wikipedia gives subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Specimen localities, including Nono, Pululahua crater, Maquipucuna and Yunguilla on the western slope and the Pifo to Baeza road on the eastern slope, are all Andean montane forest and forest-edge sites. It is presumably epiphytic, like most Andean Tillandsia of these forests, but no source we could open says so directly.

GBIF specimens with elevations span 2,200 to 3,000 m (median about 2,560 m).

Ecuador

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.